Haptic Technology To Make Life Easier For The Blind – Gizmo Watch

Haptic Technology To Make Life Easier For The Blind – Gizmo Watch: “Haptic display technology is becoming pretty popular with lots of mobile makers including Apple Computers all set to embrace it in a big way. The Japanese Broadcasting firm, NHK have taken Haptic technology further by adding an optical touch panel that simulates symbols and icons with protrusions and recesses. This development now makes it possible for blind users to get audio messages as and when they touch icons represented in braille form on the haptic display panels. This obviously will help the blind use cellphones and other handheld devices very easily. The entire project is a collaborative effort between NHK and Tokyo University and was funded by Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications technology. Expect this technology to filter down to mobile devices in the very near future. Meanwhile, to catch a glimpse of this technology in action, you can visit the NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories Open House 2008 which happens on the 22nd to 25th of this month.Via: Techon”